It may be desirable to power appliances (possibly in the form of a faceplate) that are not plugged into an outlet or located where a switch or other device is installed. It may also be desirable to insert additional or varied functionality within a node (wherein a node may include a receptacle, switch or any other device in an electrical installation) circuit. To facilitate either of these scenarios it may be advantageous to have additional contacts, in addition to the standard screw lugs for wiring, on a node that may allow devices to either draw power or insert themselves into the node circuit in order to alter the circuit or provide additional functionality. This may then allow modification of the electrical installation without re-wiring.
There are a number of products on the market that may allow users to switch an outlet or switch on (or off) remotely. These products may burden the switch or outlet with the means to perform this switching operation. In an installation where an entire electrical system may be installed or replaced, it may not be known which outlets or switches might need or desirably include remote switching functionality. One might then make every installed outlet and switch capable of remote switching functionality. Providing such functionality as an integral part of the outlets and/or switches may add undue cost and complexity, especially if many of these outlets and/or switches do not actually need remote switching functionality.